Oregon Football: 3 way-too-early breakout candidates for 2022

Oregon football heads into the offseason looking for some guys to step up to replace stars such as Travis Dye, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Mykael Wright.

Dan Lanning is going to need some key players to step up this season if he’s going to be able to adequately replace guys like Kayvon Thibodeaux, Travis Dye, Verone McKinley, and Mykael Wright.

It’s not going to be easy to replace all that talent and when you add in more key players such as Anthony Brown, potentially CJ Verdell, Mycah Pittman, Devon Williams, Jaylon Redd, and Johnny Johnson III who are departing, it puts a ton of pressure on the young guys on the roster to step up.

Let’s take a look at three players who could break out in 2022 to fill some big shoes.

Dontae Manning was one of the prized recruits in the 2020 class for Oregon and he’s finally getting a shot as a starter with Mykael Wright going the NFL route.

I’ve been high on Manning ever since he signed with Oregon and I thought that he was going to break out last season with DJ James suspended to start the year. He’s finally going to get his shot to be a full-time starter this year with both starters from 2021 gone and he’s going to take full advantage and become a star.

Manning finished his redshirt freshman season with 18 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup, but he’s going to improve on those numbers drastically.

I see the 5-11, 192-pounder becoming a lockdown cornerback all season long and potentially making a push for an All-Pac-12 team.